Roy’s Downtown Introduces New Chef

I have never been a big fan of Hawaiian food, and most of the the places I’ve seen have been fast food Places, but then there was Roy’s — an upscale Hawaiian restaurant. I’ve noticed Roy’s before in Old Town Pasadena and they were even on an episode of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” .

Last week we were invited to meet the Downtown LA location’s newest chef partner and try out some of his signature dishes. Chef Blaine is inspired by his Hawaiian background and his love for comfort food. The food was INTERESTING with TONS of FLAVOR.

-The chef was trying to be true to the original Japanese dish and so did not sear the fat on the pork belly. When the decision was made to simply braise the pork belly without searing the fat, maybe the fat should have just been removed. I noticed the fat remained on almost every plate as it was cleared. This dish did not work for me, the Pork belly was saturated with fat and had a abnormal bitter taste to it.

The pork belly was paired with a 2008 Ponzi Pinot Noir, which did a nice job of cutting into the fattiness of the dish.

-This was definitely the best dish, it had a nice char and was not too gamey. A light dish and perfect for the summer. I just wish the Lamb was a little bit more tender, but still a great dish. The presentation was an optical splendor.

Paired with a 2007 Penley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra. The tannic wine was chosen to pair with the gaminess of the lamb, but the lamb turned out to be not gamey at all.

-The lime gel was intentionally aiming for Otter Pops (Sir Isaac Lime) but the pine nut dust didn’t seem to serve any purpose. This dish was very refreshing, and the combination of lime and mint made the dessert reminiscent of a Mojito.